Frayed Knights - Review @ Digitally Downloaded

Your party consists of four fixed members. Arianna, dainty warrior half elf with a short temper, Dirk, a clumsy lowbrow thief, Ben, a timid priest only very recently joined after a spell in herbalism, and a ditsy sorceress named Chloe who takes a little too much pleasure in pyromania spells. This is where the writing of this game really shines. It got to a point that even though the gameplay itself was excellent; I kept playing into the wee hours of the morning for the dialogue. So much fun is had here with not only the characters interacting in the most hilarious, fascinating and memorable ways, but with all the fun poked at RPGs I mentioned earlier. It throws a lot of curveballs around RPG convention. When asked to check out the rat problem in Farmer Brown’s basement, Dirk proclaims “not another kill the rats in the basement quest!” I actually laughed out loud. (How many games have actually made you laugh vocally? And that’s perhaps the weakest gag.) The devs took my expectations of the quest and turned it into exactly what I had not suspected, with some really good results.

Ah, finally some love for the controversial humor which still seems to a major obstacle to getting newcomers interested in the game. Timing appears to be an issue here, too, since a lot of people were for some reason put off by the recently released Dungeons of Dredmor's humor and thus want nothing to do with anything that is remotely similar in that respect.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
Unbelievable. Some people rather prefer "dark & gritty" or what ?

Yeah, there is that…

On the other hand, way to jump to conclusions, Alrik…

I have to say I was very sceptical regarding the humor. I don't usually like satire so much (at least not of things that are important to me ), never really got into Pratchett much, and HATED the various attempts to ridicule my holy Lord of the Rings (On the other hand, I always did like Douglas Adams).
I actually bought it inspite of the humor, because it seemed a pretty solid (indie!) RPG underneath (which it is). I am happy to say though, that I ended up loving the humor so far, much to my surprise. I guess it's that P&P gaming humor that he managed to capture, and actually its not as in your face and overbearing as I had concluded from the screens. It still manages to feel like an adventure, regardless. I really like the game. Gonna play it right now, actually. The Tower of Almost Certain Death awaits! Again! And this time I am armed with poetry!

They don't break the third wall THAT much. Though it does seem that while it might dissuade some people from even trying it, the vast majority who do find themselves liking it or at least deciding that it's "not that bad." I tried to avoid going full-on obnoxious with the tongue-in-cheek. I prefer the kinds of comedy that are more character and plot based, and the best comedy gets downright serious at times.

But I learned in a previous game that some folks (particularly a couple of thick-witted reviewers who are thankfully no longer reviewing games so far as I can tell) just don't get anything remotely "subtle," and if you don't make the humor obvious early on, they'll think you are trying to do serious poorly and failing at it.

And having some spells like "Power Word: Defenestrate" or a "Quarterstaff of Nad-Whacking" - while pretty low humor - were sometimes just too much fun to leave aside. And when Kevin and I were bouncing ideas off each other about the Rats of Nom quest, I was literally laughing out loud. I hope some of the quests in the later games work on that same level.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
Speaking of which - can anybody explain a poor non-native speaker what that means? Even google couldn't help me…

nads is short for gonads. It's slang for testicles. Basically means the staff is for smacking someone in the crotch.

I checked Google and the 4th result brought up, after all the hair removal products , was urban dictionary which did seem to accurately define it. Urban dictionary is usually a good spot to check for slang terms.

Originally Posted by Motoki
nads is short for gonads. It's slang for testicles. Basically means the staff is for smacking someone in the crotch.

I checked Google and the 4th result brought up, after all the hair removal products , was urban dictionary which did seem to accurately define it. Urban dictionary is usually a good spot to check for slang terms.

I get only Frayed Knights links Must be the stupid localized Google page. Thanks for improving my language skills, mates

I have been waiting years for another 1st person, turn based, party rpg. I absolutely love that type of game, and I'm always watching for a new one. Also, I buy almost any game that even hints at being a turn based rpg, because I miss the old style games so much.

Unfortunately I'll be passing on Frayed Knights. I want to like the game, but I can't get past those character portraits.

I can live with humor in most genres. But most genres don't get just 1 game released every 10 years. To be honest, I'm pretty annoyed that a game like this FINALLY comes along, and it's made to look stupid on purpose.

I am not a graphics snob by any stretch. I can live with graphics that are 10 plus years behind the times. In fact, the dungeon and the monsters look good to me. But in this type of game, it's all about your party, and I don't think I can make myself care about leveling up this goofy bunch.

I'm going on the assumption that you are stuck with the 4 that I see in all the screenshots, so correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm asking an extreme example not to be a smartass, or to equate Frayed Knights with Teletubbies. I use that example so that I can see whether you actually care as little about such a "trivial" thing as you seem to.

If you actually like the party in Frayed Knights, that's a different story, and of course you would like the game. But if you just don't care, then you and I really do value this type of game differently.

Originally Posted by Raldor
I want to like the game, but I can't get past those character portraits.

At least they are much, much better than the character portraits of some of the player characters from the "Realms Of Arcania" trilogy …

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

I find that the portraits fit the characters in the party and the tongue in cheek style of the game (This is less true for other parts of the Graphics). Although the characters are comedic, I find myself caring quite a bit for them. It's a bit early to say, but I think They will end up as one of the more memorable parties I have played. This game is not just silly - it's a satiric adventure, enjoyable for both aspects. But if you can't stand the style, well there is not much we can say. However, since you say you like this style of game so much, I would recommend to take at least a few minutes with the demo (if you haven't), maybe you'll be surprised, like I was.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
However, since you say you like this style of game so much, I would recommend to take at least a few minutes with the demo (if you haven't), maybe you'll be surprised, like I was.